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“In many ways, we do take our cues from the U.S. market, so certainly it being closed caused Toronto to be somewhat directionless today,” said John Stephenson, portfolio manager at First Asset Funds.

The Toronto stock market was already in for a lacklustre showing this week as disappointments over the quarterly earnings season pile up and traders exercise caution ahead of an American election too close to call.

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“The sense is that things have been pretty slow these days and people worried, and this is another thing to add to the wall of worry that seems to be getting higher all the time,” added Stephenson.

“In general, people are looking at Europe as an unresolved mess and no end in sight to that problem. China is weak and of course there is all the uncertainty about the U.S. fiscal cliff and the U.S. election. All of that is weighing on sentiment and there is an absence of positive news.”

The TSX base metals sector led decliners, down 1 per cent, while December copper futures lost six cents (U.S.) to $3.49 a pound in electronic trading.

The TSX energy sector was up 0.33 per cent, with the December crude contract down 74 cents to $85.54 a barrel.

The gold sector was up about 0.6 per cent while December bullion was down $3.20 to $1,708.70 an ounce.

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